This weekend I got to take On Aether Winds to Rooster Teeth Expo and show it to the public the first time. It was awesome to watch hundreds of people play the game and see how they responded. I've been fine-tuning the controls by guesswork for months, but there's no substitute for watching players pick up the game fresh and experiment with it.
My phone is full of notes on little tweaks to make in the next build but I'm happy to say the big points went over well. The space flight works. People were getting the hang of the controls and staying for extended playthroughs. One guy on Saturday even sat down long enough to beat it!
Big thanks to Bryan who worked the booth with me all Fri / Sat like a champ, Arthur who drove down from Dallas on a tight schedule to help out on Friday, and my brother Eric and his friend Ryan who helped man the booth on Sunday. Also thanks to the RTX Guardians who were always eager to volunteer their assistance. Seriously, Guardians: your enthusiasm when I know you're all at least as worn out as I am is incredible.
On to the "big news" I mentioned in a comment: You can download the demo build from RTX and play it!
Download the game here: www.onaetherwinds.com
This is the first level of the eventual final release. It's a big level designed to give you lots of room to explore and experiment with the mechanics, then drop you into some big space battles as you complete your first objectives. I'm calling it this the "public alpha," but this it's gone through a lot of refinement already. I want everything I put out on the internet to be fun experience and not just for people who like getting in on the ground floor and tracking down bugs. (Maybe I should call it a beta? These terms don't really mean anything.) The public build will be updated as I get more levels ready to show off, so keep checking back!
